A long-standing debate in user interface research is the tradeoff of benefits between physical and digital user interface objects. In particular, the vision of a physical desktop computing apparatus based on the way office workers use paper documents has been an enduring research goal. One of the reasons for the longevity of paper, according to Sellen and Harper, is that it provides tactile-kinesthetic feedback when organizing and navigating information that is not available in traditional digital windowing environments. Paper, as a physical medium, is also thin, lightweight and portable. It provides 3D spatial organization of information, while enabling concurrent access to multiple streams of information.
On the other hand, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) provide superior opportunities for on-the-fly electronic manipulation and updating of information over paper. However, there are three major limitations of the GUI, as compared to paper documents: (1) users are severely restricted in the way they concurrently manipulate and organize multiple windows, particularly in cases where windows obscure each other; (2) spatial manipulation of windows is defined and limited by screen size; and (3) users cannot apply spatial memorization skills for GUI-based document retrieval as effectively as they can in real, physical, environments.
Hence, there exists a need in the art for enhanced approaches.